Dematerialized Pharmaceutical Prescriptions
Andrzej P.UrbańskiInstitute of Computer SciencePoznań University of TechnologyPoland
in (Mobile) Internet Environment
Bologna, e-2003 , October 23
Why mass e-Commerce services are the future for the disabled and elderly?
even people with serious movement problems can use it
not embarrassing servicesalmost as convenient as traditionalfinding lowest prices is easy
What ill, old or disabled expect from e-commerce?
purcheasing remotely medicines available only with prescription
ability to obtain health-service refunds when buying medicines remotely
Dematerialization of stock shares
–only electronic data link shares with their owners
–greater safety, speed and comfort of exchanges
Known Solution:
Dematerialization
Dematerialization of prescription
–digital-key-based electronic storage
–greater comfort and flexibility of purchase
New Solution:
Dematerialization
Elements of dematerialized prescriptions
contents: header, drugs, signature -changed to digital equivalents
reference: for instance a 12-digit number enabling purchase of medicines
Cycle of the Dematerialized Prescription (DP) contents
PATIENT’sHEALTHSERVICE
PHYSICIANPHARMACY
HEALTHSERVICEFINANCINGSERVER
Filling out a DP with the help of patient’s historyReference is sent from the Physician to a PharmacyPurchase of DP drugsInclusion of DP in patient’s history
Delivering medicines
PHYSICIAN
HELPER
PATIENT
PHARMACY APOTHECARY
The most traditional use of DPHelp from a voluntary persone-Commerce-like use of DP
Hardware and software for DP preparation should be:
•both for stationary and mobile processing•easy and intuitive to use because of physicians’ strong habits•prepared to use in everyday physician work even in a hurry and under stress
Other proposals
Internet access to pharmacies mostly in US– client can choose medicines he or she wants– pharmacy cooperates with a physician, who
prescribes the chosen drug
Not acceptable for the European Health Service
e-Prescription
Comparable proposals
NOVO Group Finland – November 2002– code bar on cellular phone– prescription contents sent directly to a pharmacy
through ASP APOTEKET Sweden – May 2003
– Internet-based– APOTEKET’s own pharmacies network
ePrescription
Advantages to patientsAs simple to use as traditional prescriptionsPatient can freely choose a pharmacyPatient - no additional equipment requiredAlways formally correct, no rejectionsWide range of delivery servicesDP can be electronically transferred as text,
voice or image
SUMMARY of DP
Other propertiesEasily applicable to every pharmacy -
automation and lower costs of work Automatic update of patients’ historyAutomatic calculation of refunds Easier control of health service economy filling out a DP is less intuitive then filling
out a handwritten prescription, especially on mobile devices – this would require much work to convince physicians to use DPs
SUMMARY of DP
Future works Technology
– a reference divided into two parts– database replication schemes
Applications– solution for the National Health Service in Poland– solution for Europe with the use of comparable
approaches from European countries, funded and coordinated under FP6